Assess the relative importance of physical and human factors in causing change in ecosystems (30 marks)

Both human and physical factors impact upon ecosystems due to their holistic nature which means that even small changes in the human or physical environment around them can cause an exponential chain of results. However these factors can be both positive and negative to varying degrees. Some of the most obvious physical factors which cause change in ecosystems can be seen through succession; for example in the sand dune ecosystem in Talacre, North Wales you can see how the vegetation changes with distance from the high mark. The further in land you travel across the sand dunes the more densely the vegetation become and the wider the variety of species that grow there become. This is because the fore dunes have many physical factors which inhibit the growth of flora; there is little soil with almost no shelter from wind or the sun. This means that only very few species can establish and survive here, in sand dune ecosystems the pioneer species is often Marram grass. The growth of the Marram grass changes the physical factors in the area as it provides shelter for other plants and animals and their root begin help to improve the soil structure which is a hugely important factor as without a good soil structure many plants will not grow as they need the soil to drain efficiently and to contain the detrifying bacteria which make nitrogen compounds available for plants. Nitrogen along with other nutrients which are also essential factors for plant growth and development are increased by improved soil structure. The further inland across the sand dunes you travel the better all these factors become which is why the species diversity increase so greatly. The wider the variety of plants which grow in an area then the more ecological niches are created and so the more different species of animals can survive there. The main physical factors which cause change in sand...

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...There are many factors that account for the changes to the vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles, such as human activity, climate, soil, light availability and intensity and natural disasters. The characteristics of the vegetation that are influenced by these factors are height, distribution, variety of species, adaptations and density of the vegetation. Some of these factors have relatively little influence on the succession development, whereas others have a dramatic influence over a long period of time, such as human activity. These factors, over time, result in the progression of a succession until the climatic climax vegetation is reached. However, sometimes these factors can mean that a plagioclimax is reached, as they prevent the succession from progressing any further and the climatic climax vegetation is never achieved, which in the UK are Oak, Hawthorne and Birch trees. This succession results in the development of an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a dynamic, stable environment which is composed of interacting and functioning biotic and abiotic components and can be of any size. There can be composed of variety of successions, such as lithoseres in grassland and woodland areas for example the Isle of Aaron, psamoseres along the coastline or small scale urban successions in urbanised areas....

...the relativeimportance of physical and humanfactors in accounting for changes to vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles (40 marks)
The British Isles can be found in the Northern Hemisphere where deciduous forest is the main biome. Here physical and humanfactors have accounted for changes to the vegetation for many years. Humanfactors can include tourism, agriculture, urbanisation, interception and deforestation. Physicalfactors can be such things as natural disasters, succession and diseases.
The humanfactor of interception can vary between many situations. For example, humans can intercept and alter the vegetation through predator control. By reducing the predators which feed upon that particular vegetation encourages the flora to grow and provide habitats or food for another species. This takes place in the Lake District where at times too many sheep graze upon the heather which reduces the amount of food for nesting birds such as Lapwing, Curlew and Merlin. As a control humans intercept by limiting the amount of sheep within the areas and even with other animals such as foxes that are also reducing and altering the vegetation to the area by either culling them or simply...

...﻿Discuss the relativeimportance of physical and humanfactors in accounting for the changes to vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles.
With a temperate climate in the Northern Hemisphere, the British Isles bears a variety of trees and successions of plants, including deciduous trees. The main ecosystem of the country is made up from forest and lake biomes alongside heathlands and moorlands such as heather moorland. The changes to the vegetation over time can be affected by both physical and humanfactors which in some cases occur together or in causation of one another. Physicalchanges include; changes in climate, succession, disease and natural disasters. Humanfactors in change include; urbanisation, deforestation, cultivation and tourism. Which are arguably the most important factors in changes to vegetation.
The British Isles were largely covered in deciduous forests, until around 5000 years ago when humans began to cut down these trees to build their homes, which can be seen as first stages of ‘urbanisation’. However the trees they cut down were put to use in firewood and fuel for cooking. Other clearances of these deciduous woodlands included for the...

...tangible benefits to living in a world with strong and healthy ecosystems. We have a stronger economy, diverse food products and advancements in medical research all as a result of wildlife and natural ecosystems.
Chipmunk with acorn in its mouth
What Does Wildlife Do For Us?
The value of nature to people has long been recognized, but in recent years, the concept of ecosystem services has been developed to describe these various benefits.
Anecosystem service is any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provides to people. The benefits can be direct or indirect – small or large.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a major UN sponsored effort to analyze the impact of human actions on ecosystems and human well-being, identified four major categories of ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services.
Types of Ecosystem Services
PROVISIONING SERVICES
When people are asked to identify a service provided by nature, most think of food. Fruits, vegetables, trees, fish and livestock are available to us as direct products of ecosystems. A provisioning service is any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature.
Along with food, other types of provisioning services include:
Drinking water
Timber
Wood fuel, natural gas and oils
Plants that...

...An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment, they can come in any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces (although it is sometimes said that the entire planet is an ecosystem).
Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun. It generally enters the system through photosynthesis, a process that also captures carbon from the atmosphere. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and other microbes.
Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors. External factors such...

...WHAT IS ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment. There are many examples of ecosystems -- a pond, a forest, an estuary, grassland.
The study of ecosystems mainly consists of the study of certain processes that link the living, or biotic, components to the non-living, or abiotic, components. Energy transformations and ecosystem components are the two main topics that comprise the field of ecosystem ecology.
COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS | BIOTIC COMPONENTS |
Sunlight | Primary producers |
Temperature | Herbivores |
Precipitation | Carnivores |
Water or moisture | Omnivores |
Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) | Detritivores |
etc. | etc. |
These include the non-living, physico - chemical factors such as air, water, soil and the basic elements and compounds of the environment. Abiotic factors are broadly classified under three categories. Climatic factors which include the climatic regime and physicalfactors of the environment like light, humidity, atmospheric temperature, wind, etc. Edaphic factors which are related to the structure and composition of soil including its...

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Ecosystem Function, Structure and Change
Matthew Brady
University of Phoenix
SCI/256 People, Science, and the Environment
Dr. Gabriel
11/18/2012
Lake Tahoe is a large lake that is almost split in half by the border of California and Nevada. Lake Tahoe’s surface area is about 191, 500 square miles with a depth of about 500 meters. Lake Tahoe is listed as the 26th largest lake by volume. The vegetation around the lake supports a variety of plant life and animal life, as well as a very diverse organism community.
The vegetation around the lake consists of a mixture of Jeffry Pine, lodgepole Pine, and both white and red fir’s. Vegetation also includes both wet and dry meadows and brush fields. The brush field Ceanothus has the capability of fixing nitrogen that makes the soil of the surrounding lake more fertile.
There are several processes that prevail inside and outside the lake. The lake is under threat from eutrophication that can severely affect the aquatic life living in it and the surrounding vegetation. It has been estimated that there has been changes in the populations of the various aquatic animals living in the lake’s waters. Zooplankton population has faced the greatest changes. The lake experiences both winter and summer seasons, which in that area of the country can be extreme. Temperatures can go as high as 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and as low as sub-zero in the winter. The vegetation...

...Ecosystem
I. Introduction
1. Meaning of Ecosystem
2. Importance of Ecosystem
II. Components of an Ecosystem
1. Biotic Components
1.1 Producers
1.2 Composers
1.2.1 Primary Consumer
1.2.2 Secondary Consumer
1.2.3 Tertiary Consumer
1.3 Decomposers
2. Abiotic Components
2.1 Sunlight
2.2 Water
2.3 Temperature
2.4 Wind
2.5 Atmospheric Gases
2.6 Soil
2.7 Periodic Disturbance
III. ConclusionECOSYSTEM
I. Introduction
1. Meaning of Ecosystem
Everything in the natural world is connected. An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that work together. Ecosystems have no particular size. An ecosystem can be as large as a desert or a lake or as small as a tree or a puddle. If you have a terrarium, that is an artificial ecosystem. The water, water temperature, plants, animals, air, light and soil all work together. If there isn't enough light or water or if the soil doesn't have the right nutrients, the plants will die. If the plants die, animals that depend on them will die. If the animals that depend on the plants die, any animal that depends on those animals will die. Ecosystems in nature work the same way. All the parts work together to make a balanced system.
An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale,...